When celebrity chef and restaurateur Geoffrey Zakarian was looking for a location for Point Royal, his new upscale-yet-casual restaurant and bar, he didn’t need to look any farther than the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood. The chic spot serves up coastal American cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner, specializing in small plates. If you’re a seafood fanatic, we recommend the raw bar. To complete a meal, diners can sample from an indulgent dessert menu, have a drink or two from a bar that offers an extensive wine list and a number of signature cocktails – or just enjoy one of Hollywood’s prime spots.
Dockside dining is just one attraction at this eatery perched on the Intracoastal just south of Oakland Park Boulevard near A1A. The vibe is Florida-casual, and you can expect to see men in Hawaiian shirts disembarking from boats and strutting inside. Traditional bar bites, Floribbean fare, and international offerings comprise the menu, including crabcakes, fried calamari, coconut shrimp, seared ahi, and conch fritters. You can also order half-pound beef burgers, overstuffed wraps, and out-of-the-ordinary takes on fish, like the blackened mahi Reuben sandwich. Cocktails run the gamut, including fruity martinis, thick frozen margarita-like concoctions, and enormous fish bowls filled with fizzy, vodka-based drinks.
Roxanne’s aims to be a locals’ watering hole with classic music and a cozy cool atmosphere. The bites menu features beer-battered onion rings (cilantro lime chili or Rod’s Cajun remoulade), sliders and wings. The cocktail list includes the Cuban Chica (vanilla-infused Bacardi chinola passionfruit liqueur, orgeat and lime) and the Respect Your Elders (Old Forrester bourbon, Frangelico hazelnut liqueur and Skrewball peanut butter whiskey).
This beachside restaurant offers casual, classic Floridian breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Crowds descend here for breakfast and lunch (be prepared to wait) only partly because of its location inside Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. Eat your eggs Benedict, pulled pork or Reuben – or perhaps you’d prefer a Thai chicken flatbread – while watching private jets take off and land.
This much-anticipated spot features an always-changing world cuisine menu that offers anything from Indian dishes to ramen to creative takes on American comfort food, including breakfast. There’s interesting local art on the walls and, as these things become more possible, local music and other events on the calendar. And if you like an adult beverage, get a rideshare over and sample from a craft cocktail list that matches with any flavor palate.
Come pig out on the juiciest barbecue around at Smoke BBQ’s new location in Fort Lauderdale. This Kansas City-style barbecue joint offers the best cuts of meat and hearty sides, great for anyone who needs a real tank-filler. Barbecue fans can argue regional superiority until the cows – or pigs – come home. At Smoke, they do things the KC way – great ribs, great brisket, great sauce and even the “burnt ends” are good.
Unlike most food delivery services, subscribers are able to customize their individual meal plans based on dietary needs and restrictions.
Located inside the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale with a great view of their sunlit atrium and waterfalls serving as a relaxing environment.
A unique concept consisting of bowling, dining and nightlife has opened in Dania Pointe. Bowlero is a blacklight bowling and retro-inspired destination with a menu that features oversized shareables and signature cocktails. Food options include the XXL Pretzel (a gigantic soft pretzel served with mustard and queso), Nacho Avalanche (corn tortilla chips layered with nacho beef, queso, jalapeños and pico de gallo, topped with sour cream) and Buffalo Chicken Melt (crispy tenders tossed in Buffalo sauce, mozzarella cheese with tomato and ranch dressing on sourdough).
This restaurant in the Marriott Renaissance Hotel serves up an assortment of American and French-inspired items. Early arrivers can indulge in omelets, French toast, and interesting offerings like alligator eggs Benedict with blackened alligator medallions and orange hollandaise sauce. Small plates like shredded pork sliders with pineapple barbecue and chicken lettuce wraps with sesame ginger dressing are served as midday snacks. For dinner, it’s all about the filet with port wine cherry reduction. For dessert, there’s warm bread pudding with vanilla and caramel or the Florida Key lime pie with chopped fruit and orange Grand Marnier sauce.
White tablecloths, dark wood accents, and landscape and portrait paintings adorning dark red and brown dining room walls give this chain in the Galleria Mall a classic, sophisticated ambience, as do the food and lengthy wine and spirits list. Appetizers like Wagyu beef carpaccio with wasabi arugula and the cold shellfish platter with fresh lobster, jumbo shrimp, and oysters are perfect for kicking off any VIP dinner. Entrees like the Kona coffee-crusted, dry-aged bone-in sirloin with shallot butter and porcini-rubbed Delmonico with 12-year-aged balsamic further stamp the feeling of luxury. Seafood lovers should try the seared citrus-glazed salmon with haricot verts, asparagus, and roasted cipollini onions with a side of decadent lobster mac and cheese. For dessert, try coconut cream pie, flourless chocolate espresso cake, or the trio of house-made ice creams.
A menu based around fries? Trust us on this one. This restaurant takes you on a tour of inspired alternatives to and takes on the humble fry. Their French fries come in all shapes and sizes, as well as different root vegetables. Try yucca fries, truffle fries, ropa vieja poutine and churrasco frites. Oh, and wash it down with a craft cocktail from a speakeasy-style menu.
A local institution offering breakfast, lunch and dinner all day and night. Try the egg specials or hot cakes for breakfast, catfish fingers for a mid-day snack, and then a burger for dinner. No credit cards accepted, but there is an ATM on-site.
Shake Shack, known for its 100-percent all-natural Angus burgers, fresh-made frozen custard and crinkle-cut fries, has finally opened in Fort Lauderdale. The East Coast rival of West Coast icon In-N-Out Burger also serves chicken sandwiches and griddled flat-top dogs (which have no hormones or antibiotics). Keeping things local, they offer brews from Wynwood Brewing Co., Due South Brewing Co. and Funky Buddha Brewery. Lucky for us, this location includes a collection of frozen custards exclusive to Fort Lauderdale: Pie OH My, S’more and Caramel Crumble (in addition to the classics).
If a tourist ever made his way to this neighborhood hangout just south of the swing bridge, you’d feel inclined to reward him with a beer, which would be easy, as craft brews line one wall of the place (under poster-sized vintage postcards of Fort Lauderdale). A friendly, eclectic crowd comes here for beer and food that goes well with it – fish tacos and pizza being the most popular.
The combinations may be unusual but the end result remains kosher. Specializing in fusing together old-fashioned Jewish-deli favorites and modern flair, this New York-style restaurant offers a delicious twist on traditional flavors. They have awesome plates that are even tastier than they look, like Reuben egg rolls and pastrami burgers. Those are just a couple of the many remixed-deli items pulled out of this establishment’s (top) hat.
Serving more than 15 gourmet burgers along with vegetarian options, the new burger house has a 15-step cooking process along with its proprietary blend of all natural, no-antibiotic and no-hormone beef. Add in a good selection of craft beers, specialty cocktails and an extended selection of wines by the glass, and this looks like an interesting new addition to the Las Olas restaurant and bar scene.
A Fort Lauderdale staple since 1982, this Italian-American eatery will bring you back to Sunday dinners at your Nana’s house – if you’re Italian, that is. Expect Sinatra to play in the background as Chianti flows and platters of shrimp oreganata, veal Francaise, and zuppa di pesce are shared family-style. Intimate meals also work inside Runway’s setting, with its low lighting and mellow atmosphere. Don’t miss the Sicilian stuffed peppers (served cold with red wine vinegar and stuffed with bread crumbs, capers, olives, anchovies, and grated cheese), and the plump meatballs with marinara. Big-time diners will want the surf and turf entree, a combination of New York strip and South African lobster tail.
American cuisine inspired by Florida and Caribbean flavors.
Opened in 1969, this is one of the last of the area’s corned beef-and-pastrami lunch places. Order The New Yorker and you’ll get both meats with Swiss cheese and Russian dressing, and a crisp half-sour pickle on the side. There’s also chopped liver, creamed herring, lox and bagels and, for dessert, coffee cake and rugelach.